Front Ensemble Fall Concert Essay

On Tuesday, October 27th at 7:30pm, I attended the USA Percussion Ensembles “USA Jaguar Drumline and Front Ensemble Fall Concert” at the Laidlaw Recital Hall. The concert contained five different pieces of music. It also contained five drumline and front ensemble pieces. The first piece of music performed was called “Apple Blossom (1972).” This piece was composed by Peter Garland (b. 1952). This was also the longest piece played out of all the other pieces of music. There were elven people playing on five different xylophones. The dynamics of this piece was played in piano and in pianissimo throughout the entire song. This piece was dramatic yet calming which caused me to feel somewhat depressed. The movement of this piece was conjunct and

The director also explained that this piece is dark and that it would be played with the third piece. As this piece was played the players would recite a poem. The poem made this piece seem more theatrical. The instruments used in this piece were drums and a bell. The contour of the piece was static and there was dissonance. The piece would crescendo and decrescendo while it would go form mezzo forte to forte. The texture of this piece was polyphonic and the movement was disjunct. The fifth piece of music performed was called “Sparklefrog (2014).” This piece was composed by Adam Silverman (b.1973). This piece involved so many instruments it even included the acoustic guitar, which the director explained as not being a percussion but it was just used for this piece. There were different percussion instruments used in this piece such as the xylophone. The director only directed this piece. One of the players used drumsticks to beat on the strings of the acoustic guitar. This piece contains dissonance and the dynamic used are forte and mezzo forte. The contour was static and the range was medium. I could actually hear the croaking of a frog in this piece. This piece made me feel like I was going on a tour through the